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How Trump Sees Economic Survival at the Heart of National Security

At the heart of Trump’s national-security policy is a race for economic survival that extends far beyond the US
Trump and Pete Hegseth, US secretary of defense, during a cabinet meeting at the White House on Dec. 2Photographer: Yuri Gripas/CNP/Bloomberg
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If you want to give President Donald Trump credit for a revolution in strategic thinking, then the most enduring one is likely his view of a world in which economic security drives national security.

Once upon a pre-Trump time, the US had a narrow conception of national security. It was about battling geopolitical rivals and other rogues while protecting important defense capabilities – nuclear missile technology, communications networks and the like – and making sure they didn’t fall into the wrong hands.